I have a great amount of admiration for those musicians and singers who, three times a week, enhance the Chapel presentations at Concordia Campus. Playing and singing in front of nearly 1000 people requires skill, courage and considerable practice. Senior School students have perhaps honed their skills through many prior experiences but, even so, there is always an element of nerves and there was always a first time when it would have been easier to decline the opportunity than to perform in front of the College in this way. We have many students who rise to this challenge.

We have international students who come to Concordia to complete their secondary education, leaving parents, familiar customs and a school system that is well understood, to be based in an unknown school, in the unknown city of Adelaide, living in unfamiliar Homestay accommodation and having an education delivered in a language that is difficult to understand. We have young people who rise to this challenge and who learn to adapt to our style of education and our way of life.

Some families regularly take their children on camping expeditions, providing them with exciting wilderness experiences, while other students have few experiences of this nature. However, all of our Middle School students participate in our adventure program and most of them thoroughly enjoy the challenge.

At Concordia, we believe that we have a responsibility to appropriately extend the experiential boundaries of students, so that our young people can learn to thrive in the face of challenge. To do this, from time-to-time students need to encounter experiences that involve an element of uncertainty and a degree of risk. The International Baccalaureate website has a blog that addresses the characteristics of the IB Learner Profile which includes the topic of risk-taking. The blog states:

The IB Learner Profile aims to develop students who are risk-takers. This means guiding students to explore new ideas and innovative strategies, challenging their ways of thinking and encouraging them to be confident in those decisions. This lifelong skill requires students to step out of their comfort zone and become courageous in their choices and actions. But, there is a hint of uncertainty and failure attached to the idea. How can teachers successfully encourage students to take risks and be resilient in the face of challenges?

Both campuses of Concordia aim to provide a broad holistic education that challenges students and extends beyond the academic, into the spiritual, physical, emotional and social domains. Without challenge, we tend to retreat to a safety zone where we know we can cope without being stretched. With challenge, we can develop and thrive.